Hiring the Right Ones
by Nauro
Summary: The world, having never heard about Commander Shepard, gets a chance to fix that oversight. Two chances, even. How will the Citadel Space handle not one, but two Commander Shepards at the same time? Will anyone believe them or will everyone try to stop them from saving the Universe once more?
1. The Arrivals

**Disclaimer: **There are other people who own Mass Effect.

* * *

**Hiring the Right Ones**

**Mission I - The Arrival**

**John**

John was running forward, his weapon burdening him like never before. Near him, people were dying by the dozens, all in desperate dash for the light in front of them. The scent of burned flesh was poking his nose even through the filters. With all the damage his armor had taken through the skirmishes, the filters might not have been working at all.

He spared a glance to his left, his eyes widening. Then, he quickly rolled to the right, evading a red beam by miracle. It had to be a miracle for him surviving this long. In the place where he had just stood, there was a steaming crater with someone's remains. Probably – just another human. Although, Garrus wasn't in sight too.

"Garrus?" He whispered in between the breaths. There was no answer from the comm.

The red beam blew up the nearest Mako to smithereens.

"EDI?" Only silence met his words.

_Just a few more steps! _His legs hurt with each step, muscles strained with the pressure exerted on them.

Then, it came – a shot from the Reaper with his name on it. He could almost read it in the red glitters forming in the humongous machine's weapon. However, he was running like on the wings that day – he had dropped his rifle halfway through, leaving himself only with a pistol, hoping that it could have given him the needed edge.

He was wrong. The beam bit into the ground with a ferocity of a death god, superheated stream of energy glancing him, the force of explosion – it was the ground, shattering on the intense heat – threw him forward, towards the white beam.

In all that pain, he managed to touch it with his fingertips, red energies crackling in the white light. The world spun out of his control.

**Jane**

Jane was angry. With herself, with the universe, with the Reapers. With everyone and anything – it was a moment of rage and pain. Her implants were buzzing under the strain, her body trying to keep up with her mind.

_Jack could do it, I can. _She reminded herself. Her biotics was the only thing keeping her together – the barrier she spent hours perfecting with Alenko was so weak she would have been ashamed to show it to anyone. However, she didn't believe that even a better one would save her from the carnage that was happening around her.

In short – Hammer was being decimated, and she had no idea if it was possible to reach the white beam at all. _Would it even work for anyone?_ She cursed, staying near a decimated Mako. _It is a trap – a bait to lure us to an assault._ _It might not be – I don't know!_ Reinforcing the barrier with the last drop of will, she darted forward, pushing herself with whatever biotic spark she had left.

A vanguard could probably have reached the beam in time – it was something her thoughts were returning to once in a while.

"Tali!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "To the left!" It was too late.

She didn't stop. _Am I a soldier or a monster? I should have stopped. _She was running forward, her target reachable in a few more steps.

Yet, it wasn't her day – the Harbinger was going to end it for her. She managed only to grind her teeth, putting up a barrier to dwarf all others – everything was poured into that last shield – every death witnessed and every life saved.

There were no biotics on Earth, nor anywhere in the Galaxy that could have stopped the shot. It went trough the barrier and destroyed the reinforced shields seemingly without effort. She fell, an angry howl on her lips, red lightning dancing on the smoking remains of her armor, and rolled on the ground. She might have touched the white light seconds before darkness consumed her – she never was sure.

**Commander Shepard**

Shepard came to it when drops rain started falling onto the helmet. Shepard took a deep breath, lying in the pile of rubble. The helmet was mostly concealed with dust and melted plastic. Yet - that part was overly curious, there was no scent of death and burning flesh. The comm was silent, probably broken.

Shepard still tried, calling the Hammer frequency. There was someone on the channel too - however, they couldn't really communicate, as Shepard's throat felt incredibly sore. By the sound of things, the other was having similar problems.

However, when Shepard finally managed to remove the magled helmet, the surroundings didn't make sense. It certainly was London, yet there wasn't a single sight of Reaper activity. The buildings looked undamaged, except the one Shepard was sprawled onto. Blinking, Shepard noticed that the traffic of the metropolis was still high, carrs speeding about. Further down, as the rubble was quite a high ground, there were transports gathering around the rubble, one could easily see the police lines being placed, and quite a few cameras starting to float about. The rain was slowly washing away the clouds of dust, indicating that the building had collapsed quite recently.

Shepard got up, slowly, helmet in hand, rain washing away, stinging at the wounds, getting into the eyes and mouth. It was not a very clean rain, reeking of pollutants and dirt, but it had been a lot more pleasant that the last few hours. _Had it been a few hours?_

"Anderson?" Shepard croaked, hearing an echo in the communications network. A very strange echo.

**Jane and John**

"This is Commander Shepard speaking," he began, checking his belt for a pistol, only to find it missing.

"Bullshit," came from behind him, in a tired, yet forceful woman's voice.

He turned around, his tired hands still jumping into a combat stance. She was ready as well, her palms twinkling with blue biotic energies. She looked as tired as he felt, probably even worse. _How is she standing?_

She was glaring at him - Commander Shepard, apparently. She hadn't seen him, ever. There had been quite a few Shepards that got more attention that they deserved, after she had saved the council, but none of them could have been wearing N7 armour, as battered as it was. He looked like death warmed over. _How the hell is he not falling down? _She recognised the stance - it was from basic training, yet the pose itself looked dangerous enough to hang over her head uncomfortably. The fact that he was larger than her didn't seem as important as the whole atmosphere of the man - she had faced a fair deal of Krogan in her life.

_However, facing an opponent like this, when my condition is..._

Before either of them moved, there was a loud announcement from the speakers from bellow. "Hey you two - clear the site!"

Shepards turned towards him, following each other with a corner of their eyes. The officer was a friendly human face. Carefree and happy, like the war never happened. Of course, the officer was frowning, as the two battered figures were disturbing his otherwise simple duty of clearing the premises, but the man hadn't known despair nor fear - thus - carefree.

"Commander Jane Shepard, Systems Alliance Officer," she was the first to speak in a harsh voice. "I... We require medical assistance and a communications array with Admiral Anderson."

Surprisingly, the name had no usual effect on the officer, as he simply frowned, muttering something about military experiments.

John, however, was frowning. "Commander Shepard? What is your service number?"

She looked at him angrily - "Five-Nine-Two-Three-A-C-"

"Twenty Eight - Twenty Six," he finished for her, even more confused than before. "Same as mine."

The officer was blinking rapidly - it wasn't in his pay grade to be solving Alliance problems. He had seen the N7 marks on both of the soldiers armour, if you could call the remains that. He started fumbling with his own communicator.

"So," Jane finally began after a minute of silence. "Either I'm going crazy, or you're some twisted version of my little brother."

He grinned. "I'm still waiting to wake up after being hit with the beam."

"Harbinger?" She asked.

"There." He laughed, and had to catch his side for it to stop hurting. "Proof that I'm having a vision."

"Or - that I'm dead." She was now grinning as well. "Do you know any nearby bars? I think I owe one turian a drink."

"Garrus?" He asked, grinning. "**May you**** get to ****heaven**** a half ****hour**** before the devil knows you're dead.**"

She looked around. "London wasn't what I imagined for my half an hour, but... Beggars can't be choosers."

"Do you know any bars around?" John deflected a question towards the confused officer. "I feel like we have earned a drink."

"Alright, solder, I'm buying." She grinned at John. "Would you mind helping me down - I think some bone in my leg is fractured?"

The officer however, didn't look forthcoming with information about nearest bars, he was gaped at them incredulously. His communicator buzzed and, he turned his attention back to them after a few hushed words.

"Commander Shepard?" he asked carefully.

"Yes?" They both answered at the same time causing another second of confusion.

"I'd hate to break it down to you two, but there's no Admiral Anderson to contact." He scratched the back of his head. "However, we would like to offer you some medical assistance. If you'd kindly follow me to the medical vehicle, or... would you like a stretcher?"

"I'm fine." Jade shook her head, slightly leaning on John. "With so little time here, I'd still like something to drink."

"The Alliance Command will arrive shortly - they have a few questions about the explosion. You were caught in it?"

"Probably." John shook his head. "There were many of those."

"This vision thing," Jane complained. "It still has a lot of red tape. Can't I play the Spectre card and tell everyone to bugger off?"

"I'm sorry," the officer looked even more confused. "Spectre?"

"Yeah," John laughed. "We're actually Council Spectres."

The officer was really glad when the medics reached them, and found a pretext to escape the company of two Shepards, muttering something about concussion from explosion to the medics.

The medical personnel were as professional as always - it was one thing humanity could be proud off.. _Like one would expect doctors to be in one's a dream. _The Medi-gel started working immediately, the smaller wounds knitting in a matter of seconds. The doctor, a middle aged woman with grayish hair, reminding them of Chakwas, was frowning – she didn't like what the scanners were showing her.

"I have no idea what half of the stuff inside you even is." She was running fingers through her omni-tool. "But it seems to be speeding up the recovery."

Shepards didn't comment only patiently waited till the end of the examination. There were benefits to healing almost like a Krogan. _Probably the only good thing Cerberus had ever done._

The strangest thing, both Shepards were looking around with great wonder, that London looked exactly like they believed it would – crowded and noisy, yet peaceful. Rubbing the eyes didn't make the city disappear, and the ever present pain invalidated the method of pinching.

John found himself watching the 'other Shepard' rather closely, trying to understand what, how and where. Jane, however, let a few tears out. She was proud in never openly crying since Mindoir, but seeing London untouched, where she had just been walking through the road paved with Hammer bodies… John looked at her confused.

"It's all gone." She whispered, whipping the stray tears away. "Everybody is dead."

"I lost." He took another glance at his counterpart seeing the same desperation in her eyes. "We lost."

"What about that bar?" She was looking at the doctor. "They do serve drinks in the afterlife? I'm hoping they have something really strong, what do you think?"

"You're injured," the doctor looked scandalized. "I'm surprised both of you can actually walk, and all you want is to have a drink?"

"Give us a break," John complained. "We died."

"I assure you – you are very much alive." The not-Chakwas explained. "And you should be put into intensive care."

"I never thought that you have to prove that you died after you do." John shook his head. "It should be fairly easy to check – I believe that one's mind is a wonderful thing, but there are things that can't be represented well in dreams. All of these are fine details - would you showing the preliminary examination results on you omni-tool? Mine seems to be burned up."

Jane was already lighting her own omni-tool – it was making strange buzzing noises, but it did boot up. She looked as the clock and date updated themselves and then she froze in place, completely still and staring.

"Jane?" He turned to her, concerned by her sudden halt.

"It's impossible." She was still staring at her wrist. "The subconscious usually has problems with numbers, but… What year is it?" The last question was directed at the doctor.

"Eighty third?" The doctor's tone was questioning.

"No." John scratched his head. "This is impossible."

"There must be something, anything…" Jane, however, was already deep in thought. "What did you say your name was?"

"John."

"And I was hoping I met the man my brother could become. He died when I was sixteen." She added unnecessary. "It doesn't make sense – you can't be another Shepard! This can't be the year my omni-tool remains are picking up."

"No, it's you who's impossible here – you can't have been through everything I have. Saren, the Collectors, the Reapers."

"Virmire, Horizon, Omega four relay, Eden Prime…" She gasped and turned to their doctor. "You said it's the year two thousand one hundred and eighty three?"

She nodded, confirming Jane's words. "February twenty two, if you want to know that too. But I believe your omni-tool has that already."

"Eden Prime?" They both asked at the same time.

"We don't have much time." He stood up straighter, his body still hurting. "Have the Geth come out from the Veil yet?"

Their questions were met by a confused expression. "If I didn't know you are not on drugs," the doctor muttered. "You should calm down, your heart rates are rising too much," she added louder - patients usually let her take care of them properly.

Jane was too, straightening herself up, with a small help of her biotics. "I need to save Ashley, I owe this to her memory."

"We need to move." John looked ready to run off in any second. "Wasn't the attack on March?"

"We need to warn Alliance Command." Jane looked strained by the thoughts. "Even if it's a vision, we need to warn everyone, Ashley, Anderson, the Council, Admiral Hackett."

"Warn everyone about what?" There was a voice with light Russian accent from nearby – a man with black and grey N7 uniform, yet one without a single visible scratch. "I was in vicinity and they sent me to deal with you two. Commander Volkov."

It looked like the name was recognized by the doctor, as she quickly found something to do elsewhere.

"Commander Shepard." They both said, almost at the same time, while trying to place the name. Unsuccessfully.

"Do you have a right to carry the N7 mark?" Volkov was frowning. "I don't know any Shepards from N7."

"Do you?" Jane looked insulted. "I paid for the blasted thing on Akuze."

Volkov was making notes on his omni-tool. "Let's say I believe that you were there. Could you name anyone from Akuze Marines?"

"All of them." Jane crossed her arms, ignoring the pain. "Everyone."

"Corporal Toombs, Private Stevens..." John started naming the names.

"That's quite enough." Volkov allowed the list to go on for a couple more names, while checking a couple of them on his omni-tool. "What is your background with explosives?"

"What?" Jane was frowning. "Is there something in that line of questioning?"

"What is your relation with the explosion?" Volkov was outright glaring at Jane. "And I'm the one asking questions."

The glare was very ineffective. John even started smiling - they had seen Reapers glaring at him.. "I know nothing about any explosions here."

"Of course you don't." Volkov made one final note on his omni-tool. "You mentioned a warning?"

"Eden prime is going to be attacked, and soon." Jane said, "Alliance Command must be made aware."

"And who is going to be attacking?" Volkov was calmly watching them both, obvious disbelief in his pose. "Turians?"

"The geth." Jane looked like she was ready to scream at the man for not listening. "It's going to be an assault with ground troops, and they'll try to blow up most of the spaceport. We need to speak to Admiral Hackett - he needs to organise a few fleets - there's a mothership - Sovreign. Its extremely dangerous and advanced. One fleet will not be enough."

"We also need a connection to the citadel Council - they need to be informed about a rogue Spectre," John added.

"Uhu," Volkov rolled his eyes. "Well, you might see some Admiral when you're both on trial."

"What?" Jane was glaring at the man. "What trial?"

"Then again, you're delusional, so maybe a stay at a proper institution might help." He motioned to a nearby military drop shuttle. "You're under arrest with the authority of Systems Alliance."

"You're not listening." John clenched his fists. "We need to warn everyone. War is coming!"

"No," Volkov drew his heavy pistol. "You're the ones not listening. I said that you are under arrest."

"People are going to die." Jane tried again. "You're a fool not to heed a warning."

"And you're delusioned madmen." He cursed in rough russian. "Get in the transport, before my patience is over.."

"Volkov," John said through his clenched teeth. "I have no time for the bureaucracy. Don't believe me, fine, it's nothing new. Just don't get in the my way."

"Brave, for two injured clowns." Volkov raised a pistol up to the John's chest. "Hands behind your head, brave guy." He touched his other hand to the communicator. "I have the two suspects of the terrorist attack, delusional and violent. I'm detaining them - prepare a holding cell for two."

"I'll give you three seconds to put the gun down, Commander," Jane growled at Volkov. "One. Two."

He turned the pistol towards her, when John started moving. With an inhuman speed from the adrenalin rush package, John punched Volkov right into the face. Before the man fell, he wrestled the pistol from his grip, and when Volkov landed on the ground, the man saw the muzzle of the pistol aimed directly at him.

"Now, about that transport?" John was grinning, even though using Cerberus upgrades made his muscles hurt like hell from the strain.

Jane looked at Volkov's hand, which was reaching for a knife and pulled it out of his hands with her biotics, taking away Volkov's shotgun as well. The nearby civilians weren't panicking yet only because a few seconds had passed. The police, luckily, were further along, too.

Having Volkov in their sights, they boarded the small military shuttle, and Jane quickly aimed the shotgun at the pilot. "Out."

The man complied, and almost fell out trying to get out. Jane, sitting in the pilot's seat, quickly took off, leaving a cursing Commander Volkov, and quite a few confused police officers and emergency services personnel behind.

* * *

The updates will be sporadic.


	2. The Reds

**Disclaimer: **Other people own Mass Effect.

* * *

**Hiring the Right Ones**

**Mission II – The Reds**

**Jane and John**

She moved aside to give him access to the controls. "You can fly this thing too, I gather?"

"Yeah," he admitted, sitting down with a wince, but quickly starting to steer the transport straight. "What do you want to do?"

She winked at him. "I'm the one with the operational omni-tool." Then, she started fiddling with their ride – making the tracking signal show anything. but their coordinates. "I'm going to make us run silent – they could start tracking us any second."

"Good." John soon got them lost in huge traffic of the metropolis. "Do you have any ideas how we will get to Eden Prime?"

"Since there's no Anderson," she said the name gently, but her face was strict. "I think we should buy a ticket into some ship – there's bound to be a few. Don't know how where we could get the credits from – probably will have to hijack a free ride."

"I have an idea, but I don't really like it." John checked the panels, finding the numbers satisfactory. "We could get there in a few hours. We might need to bash in a few faces to get what we need, though."

"I'm fine with that." She finished confusing their tracking signal – it was easy with the software upgrades she had gathered through the years. "The only two ideas I have are trying to get help from either of the two devils – Cerberus or Shadow Broker."

"Maybe we could still convince the Alliance?" John sighed. "Send a message to Admiral Hackett, if he is here, of course. When he sees Eden Prime attacked they will have to believe us."

"He was one of the few that listened," Jane agreed returning to her omni-tool. "I'm going to tap into extranet and we'll see." After two minutes of silence, she continued. "Hackett is alive, I'm going to take a wild guess and send him a message to his old address."

"Good memory." John scratched his chin. "Do you remember the frequency to call the council too? The Spectre one, for emergencies – I think I recall only a few numbers myself?"

"Is there even a point?" Jane looked surprised with his suggestion. "I put up with their bullshit for as long as I could, and they still didn't believe anything I said until Reapers showed up. They will _dismiss that claim_ faster than they'll finish reading the message."

"Sparatus is annoying," John agreed. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to try."

"In any case, I had Joker or EDI do the connecting – never learned the council codes by heart, and have only the newer one on my omni-tool." Jane shrugged. "I've sent the message to Hackett – encoded in N7 codes – that should help prove our special forces status."

"Or," John snorted. "We will simply get one confused admiral. They'll have to change the encryptions soon – you have just cost Alliance thousands of credits."

"They'll manage."

"So," John picked up the conversation after a staying silent for a while. "Who exactly are you? My female clone?"

She laughed. "Why do you think that I'm yours, and it's not the other way round?"

He sighed. "For a woman who shouldn't exist, you're really reminding everyone that you do."

"Wait till I heal - you haven't seen anything yet."

"If you say so. You say you were on Akuze, too?"

"Yes." Her voice became more metallic than usual. "Between me, you and Toombs, I'd say that Alliance can't call any of us a single survivor."

She brought up the omni-tool once again, fiddling with it for a minute. "Here - they say that there were no survivors from Akuze. By the looks of things, they sent a different squad than the one I was in."

"That's why Volkov didn't believe us."

"Nice reflexes, by the way," she smiled. "The adrenaline implant from Cerberus?"

He nodded.

"No biotics, just the old fashioned physical training?"

He nodded again.

"You should take the Storm V, then." She took another look at Volkov's weapons. "I'll take the Kessler IV. Pistols are more to my liking."

They switched them quickly, strapping them onto their armor remains.

"So…" John tried again. "All this makes you a warped version of me?"

"Do you want me to place a warp on your face for that?"

He coughed. "So… Kind of a sister, then?"

"Well, that might be a bit more believable than whatever you are, **brother**." She scratched her chin. "Or, you could simply drop the nonsense, and we can say that we're not related."

"We have to decide till we arrive." He sighed, looking over her again, while not releasing the controls. "Saying that we're not related might not work – we do have similar complexions, the same last name, and a lot of similar experiences."

"You could go by Gunn, and I'll be Shepard." She offered.

"Gunn?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Kasumi gave you a different cover?" She grinned. "I figure it would be easy to remember."

"Who's Kasumi?" He frowned.

"Ah, you don't know her?" Jane smiled. "Kasumi is a nice girl, helped me quite a few times. Someone I wish were with us – the whole 'get to Eden Prime without getting arrested' thing would take her a few minutes at most."

"And that's another difference." John steered to the left, flying the transport over the ocean – the military grade shuttles were made for quick planetary flights, and were not that easy to detect, if one remembered to fly low and fast. "I don't think we should use different names – that's not going to change anything. If no Shepard has ever born here, it'll be the same as taking any other alias, and if there is one, well, we might meet him faster this way." He paused. "Or her."

"We kind of need them to remember us, too." She smiled. "We'll need different credentials to go through any checkpoints – could take another name that's the same."

"Can't promise anything solid about the credentials, but we'll try to get something."

"How long do you think it will take to wherever we are going?" She rubbed her eyes. "I think I could drive for a while and you could take a nap, then we'll switch. Where to?"

"Just go forward for two hours, I'll take over then." And just after sitting down a bit more comfortably, he was dead asleep.

**John and Jane**

They were nearing their destination now, the outskirts of Vancouver – he had left her the easy part – flying over water, and took it onto himself to maneuver carefully on the land, trying not to arouse unnecessary suspicion. His, well, sister, was asleep. Sleeping was something he had usually forgone in the last days of the war, and, he suspected she had done the same. Now, having dreamt something about the war, but none of the usual nightmares, he hoped that she would get some rest too.

Dreaming in a vision was something he didn't really want to examine, as it pointed out to this being somewhat real. Maybe.

He swerved to downwards, landing deep in the densely populated slums. The place he hoped to never visit. But the guys he knew there, even though they, most probably, wouldn't recognize him, were his only hope.

"Jane?" He asked loudly, setting the shuttle down. "Wake up!"

She jumped, pistol already in hand, but recognized him in but a second. "Did anyone tell you that you sound like a vorcha?"

"Tali did." His face became an unmoving mask. "We're there. I'm going to do the talking. Keep your pistol nearby."

The shuttle doors opened, letting in the smell of dirty streets and mechanical oil. The street, surprisingly, looked empty, but both Shepards could see faces peeking out from the corners and nearby windows.

"Hey!" John shouted loudly. "Finch, come here you old bastard! I can see you – don't pretend you're not here!"

"What do you need from Finch?" There was a shout from the direction John was looking at.

"I have something to trade and you have something to give. Come here and let's talk – Weisman said you could help me! I have some red stains I need cleaning."

Finch walked out carefully, with hand on his gun.

"Put that thing down Finch, you're going to hurt yourself," John ordered. "And move, man, move, we haven't got all day."

Jane, pistol in hand, was looking around for possible threats – when Finch moved out of the cover, many people started dispersing, but a few, possibly armed ones, were standing at the windows, prepared to fire if something happened.

"Weisman?" Were the first words Finch offered.

"Curt." John nodded. "Saw him something of a month ago, in Gellix. He's trying to create something from nothing, as always. We drank a few drinks, laughed at stupid turians trying to use a world they can't live at, and traded a few things. He told me, if I'm ever in need for some services, I could ask the Tenth Street Reds."

"And you are?"

"John."

"And the one with the pistol?"

"My sister."

Finch hmmed. "Any more military guys in there?"

John leaned slightly closer. "It might come as a surprise, but we're not from military."

Finch perked up at that. "So, what do you need from the Reds, Johnny boy?"

"Now we're talking." John ran his fingers on the side of the shuttle. "I have this little bird in my possession, and I need a couple of credits and some help with transportation of world."

Finch shook his head. "You stole a military shuttle and expect me to buy it? These have tracking chips installed. Johnny, I don't deal with this kind of trouble."

"The tracking system is offline." Jane offered. "And you'd better take the deal - we can find someone else to take the shuttle."

Finch scratched his head. "It's trouble still aren't worth as much as tickets offworld.."

"You misunderstand me, Finch." John crossed his arms. "I want some credits, spare clothes and a timetable for leaving ships with a few papers."

"We can't help you." Finch shook his head. "No way."

"Did you ever solve the problem with Nathan?" John grinned viciously. "I could go and talk with him - and Kyle can make us some IDs."

Finch looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

"Curt speaks a lot when he's drunk."

Finch thought for a few moments. "Alright - you will speak with Nathan, we take the shuttle, and you'll have your IDs and timetable."

"And money." Jane interjected. "The shuttle is new, those go at least two hundred thousand credits a piece. You'll probably get as much so you can spare us at least a hundred."

Finch failed his arms. "Don't you wish for too much, girl? Twenty."

"Hundred." She repeated, checking her pistol.

"Thirty, and not a credit more - the IDs are very expensive."

"I'll try to be content with ninety," she offered. "Or my brother here might not find the Nate fellow."

"Fine." Finch grumbled. "Fifty."

Jane would have continued the game, but John coughed. "We'll take fifty. But you pay us up front, or we'll take off now."

It took good twenty minutes for Finch to get them the credit chits. They stood there, waiting, as patiently as possible, and when they had the money, they simply left the shuttle in the middle of the street.

John was leading the way. Their battered armor actually fit right into the crowd. The people walking were tired, dirty and many of them had some kind of armor remains - stolen, or found, or, even manufactured from some scrap metal. The buildings weren't tall, if one would dare to call them such. The main source of housing was from huge containers and other metal remains from the spaceships. Vancouver had one of the bigger spaceports on Earth and the scrap metal always found its way into the nearby slums.

However much the Alliance hoped to remove the slums from the spaceport's vicinity, they only managed clearing a couple of streets every few years - people simply moved their things further away. The city's skyscrapers were visible from afar - a mockery to anyone living there. The people of the slums rarely looked up - there were too many problems that waited the one who dared to look away and relax.

The crowds, as John remembered them from his childhood, were mostly absent - it was either because he wasn't a kid anymore and the people didn't look one bit daunting to him anymore. Or, what was more likely, the shotgun on his hip and their military stance made people reconsider crossing their way.

So," Jane remarked while stepping over a part of an old mech, that no one bothered to take from the streets - it was obviously unsalvageable. "We have fifty thousand credits. Not bad for selling a shuttle that isn't ours. If your friend delivers the IDs... Who is the Nate guy? Any trouble?"

John was silent.

"John?"

"It is a man I'm going to kill for the second time."

"I'm all with killing scum, but what has that particular one done to you?" She took a second to glare at a kid that was in the way, asking for money. The little guy had an omni-tool, and was trying to make a discreet scan of their possessions. The glare was enough, however, and the brat was gone behind the nearest corner in seconds.

"He's a local boss - I was afraid the Reds could have been stomped out by him, and we would have had to talk with Nathan first thing. That would have been worse."

The voice was calm, calculating, with metal ringing in it. "He's one of the guys that I never regretted killing."

"Sounds pretty personal."

"It was." He checked the safety of the shotgun. "He's done enough to be killed in a vision, too." He waved his arm around. "He's also the one that preys on all the people living around him."

"What should we expect?" She was checking and rechecking her pistol, looking somewhat excited. "Lots of security?"

"He's has a few pulls in armor and weapons sales, buys the Hahne-Kedar line from under the table. I got my first quality armor from his storage. His bodyguards will be well armed, too."

"Clever." She had to fight her instinct to switch to a fresher heat sink, just in case. "We do need better armor. Well, any armor would do, actually."

"And you have no qualms to me killing Nathan? Even though you don't know him?"

"Nah," her expression was rather hungry and full of anticipation. "I'm actually itching to shoot at something - with the whole reaper business I'm going to enjoy shooting anything that's smaller than them. He's not going to have krogans for bodyguards?"

"He shouldn't. He's one of Terra Firma supporters."

"Even better. Are we there yet?"

"Soon."

She was looking around without moving her head much. "Because there are armed people that are starting to stare."

And there were - the crowds became thinner, and the men more often had armor than not. Everyone carried at least a pistol or a knife. Jane could even notice a glimpse something that looked alike the fighting pit in Jack's facility. "Reminds me of Omega."

John nodded. "With no aliens."

"You can't have everything." She sighed, motioning towards the sun. "At least there's natural light."

"We're here." He gestured to a building that looked stronger and higher than the surrounding slums, and had two well armed guards standing outside. In fact it was an older model space station - hundreds of those where scattered throughout the galaxy, and this one was either assembled to never take flight, or was a victim of a previous bad landing and someone had left it where it fell, removing the engines.

"Do you want to talk, or can we greet them with bullets?"

"Don't start a firefight in the street. Too many bystanders." John whispered to her. "They should let us see him, we look like hell and only the shotgun looks more serious."

"If they don't, I'll start shooting. Just so you know."

He sighed. "Just like Wrex," he muttered quietly.

Then, they were next to the guards, who were watching the pair of them intently.

"What do you want here?" one of the thugs standing outside asked. "Go away."

"We need new armor." John strolled right to the guard. "I've got money."

The guard laughed. "And why anyone inside would meet you?"

"Just tell Nathan that I have a proposition from the Reds, too."

The man spit on the ground. "Nathan is busy."

"I'm sure he could find time," John was talking as pleasantly as he could. "I'm sure he will like to earn a huge profit."

"You don't look," the other guard began. "Like a man that could bring us a huge profit."

"Looks can be deceiving." John coughed. "Let Nathan judge that."

The first man opened his omni-tool and sent a query further along the line. "You can go and wait inside. And don't try anything funny, we're watching you." He left the other one to stand outside alone, and gestured both the Shepards to come in.

They had to wait a very long feeling twenty minutes, where John actually looked calmer than Jane by far. She wasn't nervous – a quick glance showed that there were only a few people on guard, and she was spending time planning the order she would have to shoot them in. It was simply annoying to wait after she had finished.

John, while looking calm and unmoving was replaying the last conversation he had with Nathan.

"Come here." The guards followed them into another room, where, under a few invisible kinetic barriers, at the end of the small table, sat a grey haired man with green eyes. At least, John remembered the barriers being there before.

"You would be the ones who stole the military shuttle?" Nathan was sitting there calmly, his hand hovering just above the holographic keyboard interface. "Should have sold it to me."

"You would be the one who killed Diana Carter?" John, while rapidly reassessing the situation, saw the narrowing of eyes of the grey haired man. "Should have left her alone."

"Kill them." Nathan pressed a button, making a turret rise from the floor behind them.

Both Shepards had swung into motion a moment before, however.

The nearest guard only saw the back of the shotgun and was quickly decked into the face for all his trouble. The strike was strong enough to knock him on his back. John wasn't there when the guard fell, he was already next to Nathan, pointing a shotgun barrel straight at his face.

Meanwhile, Jane shot a the downed man, wrapped herself in a biotic barrier and quickly launched an overload on the turret, blowing it to pieces before it even started firing.

"Don't kill me!" Nathan screamed, staring in the barrel with fear. "Don't!"

"That's what she said to you, too." John was standing high – the kinetic barriers flared into existence negating out a shot from one of the guards. A guard trying to shoot John in the back, cursed - the kinetic barriers reacted only to a high velocity objects, letting John through, but stopping all projectiles from reaching him or Nathan from further on. "Do you remember what you answered to her? It was like this." John pulled the trigger, and the shotgun roared like a storm over the sea. The shot went right into the face and into the brain, a mixture of blood and brains staining the while walls.

Nathan's body landed with a loud thump, and every single guard froze for a moment. Their employer was dead, and the two intruders didn't look like they would come down easy.

And, Jane never stopped shooting, taking the life of yet another guard.

They started running.

"Well, that was a mess." Jane laughed. "How much time do you think it'll be till law enforcement shows up?"

"A while." John sighed. "It's a bad neighborhood."

"So… Who was Diana Carter?"

"A friend."

Jane nodded. "At least you got the bastard."

"I'm not proud of it." He shook his head. "You can look for some weapons and armor, there's bound to be a stash here somewhere." He sat down in the chair Nathan was sitting a minute ago. "I'll be here if you need me."

She shuddered. "Fine."

**Jane and John**

The room with tightly locked doors was in the basement - the former cargo hold, but as it was reached by walking down a flight of stairs... She opened it in a few seconds, grinning at the old fashioned security system. At least, for her.

John was right – Nathan did have an in with Hahne-Kedar manufacturers. She whistled a happy melody while, disabling the cameras in the room. There must have been at least ten pairs of armor, and the wall was littered with weapons.

They weren't that good, but between the Mantis II, the only armor here that would fit her easily, and the remains of the several grades better N7 armor, she would choose the former all the time. Guessing that John would likely decide the same, she grabbed a few sets that looked his size. It wasn't that any armor couldn't be modified to fit any owner, but there really weren't time nor tools for the task.

She grabbed a couple of weapons too – it looked like the shotgun wasn't Johns favorite weapon, and it was highly probable that alike her, he preferred to have a few spare weapons at hand. Just in case.

With military training all that took her only a couple of minutes, even when she still hadn't recovered completely. Changing armor did hurt quite a lot – there were a few places where the old armor came off with pieces of skin. The Cerberus modifications were working in high gear, though, repairing the wounds with gusto. She shuddered remembering the red beam.

"Go to hell!" she shouted inside the weapon room. Then, she laughed – the afterlife wasn't as she had expected. Probably she wouldn't even find Garrus, to thank him for all the times he had her back. Nor would she get the chance to apologize to Tali.

She turned on her heel, feeling a lot better in her new armor, even when the N7 mark was gone. She did put the marked piece in a backpack, as a souvenir.

She brought up all the treasure, and found John looking though the files.

"Anything interesting there?"

"He was working for the Shadow Broker."

"Huh." She blinked a few times. "Oh, right, that's a bad thing in this vision."

"Who else do you think is here?" He asked suddenly. "Do you think Liara has trapped herself yet?"

"Probably." She laughed. "Maybe a few hallucinations should visit her after Eden Prime. Where are you planning of finding us a ride there, again?"

"I'm searching for one." He pointed at the terminal, not really getting her comment about hallucinations, but not bothering to ask. "The Alliance isn't stupid, I'm sure Volkov will tell them to look at public transports headed to Eden Prime from Earth. That's already a huge bulk to examine. But…" he was pointing at the screen, smiling.

"They won't look for us with passengers heading to Terra Nova - too much traffic to cover - no real crimes done, so they shouldn't care that much." Jane grinned. "Even when we're going to use the same relay. Get in the armor, I'll book us the seats."

* * *

The updates will continue to be sporadic.


	3. The Terra Nova

******Disclaimer: **Other people own Mass Effect.

* * *

**Hiring the Right Ones**

**Mission III – The Terra Nova**

**Jane and John**

He was sleeping in a seat next to her. They both had a few years of sleep overdue, and took any chance to do so - sleep, as well as food helped the Cerberus upgrades considerably. She took another meal from the flight attendant, paying a couple more credits from their reserve. The food was as crappy, as one would expect from a small private firm, but she downed it with gusto. After getting into the first shuttle, they quickly decided who was to be responsible for watching the other sleep, but it quickly degenerated into taking turns sleeping and eating.

She sighed between the bites - she never expected the journey to take that long - they had made the jump already, but were in FTL flight towards Terra Nova. They did argue for a while, John claiming that they should let the transport ship, which was only as large as three military shuttles and had only a small FTL engine, land on its destination. She, of course, insisted on taking over the craft completely and forcing a landing on Eden Prime. However, John was insistent on not involving innocent passengers, and she had reluctantly agreed.

Taking another sip of lightly alcoholic beverage - it was like drinking water, with the damned Cerberus filters, she saw the Terra Nova appear on the screen for passengers - finally.

Her parents had almost moved to Terra Nova, but instead they had chosen Mindoir, and that was a lethal mistake. Batarians - she clenched her fists, denting a formerly very durable drinking cup.

"Batarians?" She muttered to herself, suddenly wide eyed. "Goddamnit."

She drank her drink in one gulp, dropped the cup on the floor, and opened her omni-tool. It flared with bright orange light, and she started playing with the transport's communication system.

It was too early, but...

"Fuck." She slammed her ankle into John's side, waking up the male Shepard. "**Balak**!"

He blinked a few times, gears quickly switching in his mind. "Now?"

"I caught the batarian communication sequences. Encrypted, but there shouldn't be any. A suspicious lack of any long range communications traffic from the asteroid, too."

"Isn't that a bit too early?" his voice was slightly disbelieving. "We need to notify the Alliance!"

"There is no time!"

The flight attendant was drawn by their chatter. "Please turn off the omni-tool's connections; they might interfere with the pilot's equipment."

"No." Jane turned back at John, playing with her omni-tool, allowing him to see what was being displayed. "I think we need to make an early landing."

John sighed and stood up - with his head slightly to the side as not to hit the low ceiling. "We are with the Systems Alliance!" he shouted loudly over the whole craft. "N7 operative Commander John Shepard. We have received orders to provide assistance on the asteroid orbiting Terra Nova – there's a terrorist attack in progress. We will be asking you all to remain calm, as we require the use of this craft to land on the asteroid's surface as soon as possible."

He got out in the aisle, finally having enough space to stand properly. The other passengers were looking at him in surprise, but his calm, commanding voice was enough to at least make everyone consider that he was telling the truth.

Jane stood up to follow him, displaying an Alliance N7 logo on her omni-tool. The image, of course, was in no way a proof of their words, but unless you were high in Alliance Command, you wouldn't know the difference – the image had some official looking numbers and she had put a photo of John in the upmost corner, too.

John was making it towards the pilots' cabin – they, even having heard the commotion, didn't try to communicate with Terra Nova yet. He thumped on the door a few times and heard the locks disengage.

Jane was smiling, promising to herself that she was going to return the favor for the invaluable lessons to Kasumi one day. From inside the cabin, it looked like the pilots decided to let John in, without any questions asked. She followed, closing the door behind her with another command on the omni-tool.

"Please turn off all the communications." John was looming above the two men handling the controls. "And set your course to land on the asteroid."

"What?" The first pilot blinked from surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Commander John Shepard," he repeated once again, slightly bored, buts sounding as official as before. "I'm with Alliance Command, and we have an emergency on the asteroid's surface. Turn off your communications."

"Done." Jane smiled. "They will need to reset the course manually, though."

The pilot looked scandalized. "We're a private firm, we don't answer to Alliance!"

"Batarians are trying to slam the asteroid into the capital, and you want to argue who answers to who?" Jane leaned towards the pilot. "Change the damned course."

"We can't land anywhere you want us to," the second pilot finally spoke. "There's no internal airlock – we can't just let you out in the middle of airless wasteland."

"Don't you have enough pressure suits for the emergencies?" Jane sighed, seeing the panicked look. "You actually don't, do you? Trying to save some cash from people safety? How would you like to be the first to-"

John raised his hand, stopping her. "We don't need you to open the doors in an empty space – the main facility has a landing pad in the back – we might be able to contact someone, and they will open it for us."

"A landing pad?" Jane questioned with a raised eyebrow, silently, as the pilots finally began to alter the course.

"I did go to see where Balak ran away from." He shrugged. "And the scientists do need to leave and enter the main facility."

"You let the bastard escape?" she hissed. "Do I have to do everything by myself?"

"I had to," he shook his head. "Just – can you focus on the now? Try to get in touch with," he scratched his head. "Kate?"

"As soon as we get in the range for radio contact." she answered reluctantly. "Just worry about not getting shot down by batarians – this piece of junk isn't Normandy."

John turned back to the pilots, watching their worried expressions. "Don't worry," he assured them. "We're going to land, disembark, and will do everything we have to – you'll be safe."

Jane grumbled and returned to trying to screen the communications traffic from the asteroid. At least the fusion torches looked to be not ignited yet.

**John and Jane**

He turned his head away from the display when she cursed.

"The landing pad is off the question – there's a batarian frigate on top of it," her voice was dripping venom.

John clenched his fist. "Does this craft have any weapons?"

The pilots shook their heads. "It's a simple transport…"

"Never mind." John allowed himself a short smile as the plan came to him. "Jane, you can form a decent biotic shield?"

"Decent enough." She nodded. "What do you need it for?"

"We're going through the main entrance."

"Don't you need a pass card for it?"

"We'll have to improvise." John turned back to the pilots. "Land here," he pointed at a certain area in the map. "We need to make a quick pick up."

"But – there's no landing airlock!"

"The pilot cabin and the cargo areas are air-proof we'll move all the children here, and as many as we can to the cargo hold." John was reluctant to call the small room 'cargo hold', but there was no better name. "I'm going to organize some space there, Jane, watch over the landing."

"You'd better do as he said," she muttered through gritted teeth – there was no way that everyone would fit in the safe compartments. What was John thinking - was he planning to take explosives from the cache?

Once again emerging in the main room, John started shouting commands, and, even though reluctantly at first, people started complying. "We're going to try and prevent it, but there is a small risk of decompression – we have to clear the cargo hold!"

As soon as the door to it was opened, he started moving the boxes around, with such enthusiasm that he left quite a few passengers staring – the Cerberus modifications allowed him to lift the whole containers without opening them to take out the baggage itself. Four men were needed to replicate his feat and then, they looked extremely tired after such an exercise.

After a few minutes John found out two important things. One – the emergency repairs kit was in place, and he yanked it off the wall to take with himself. Second – fitting everyone inside would be near impossible even with the containers out of the way.

"Does anyone have full environmental equipment?" He looked at the pale faces of every passenger. "Anyone?"

He stormed back to the pilot cabin – there had to be at least one suit… There wasn't.

Jane was apparently watching him through the inner cameras. "That was quite a show, brother." She seemed to enjoy the twitch that the word drew out from him. "I don't believe even Wrex would have lifted that."

He grabbed her shoulder, trying to convey the deadliness of everything. "I need the best shield you can make. The very best."

"No problem." She laughed. Laughed – he didn't understand how her mind ticked.

"You're going to hold the air inside until the doors close and then again – letting me back inside."

"Yeah, I figured as much." She winked at him. "Just don't make me wait too long."

A silent impact shook the craft. There was a beep in the pilot's panel announcing that they were in place. The pilot was staring at Shepards, however. "You're going to do **what**?"

"Just keep us on the ground," Jane growled. "We got this."

They rushed the tree kids into the pilot cabin, as well as another three passengers – that was the most that could fit, and wouldn't interfere with the pilots' ability to fly the craft in case of some emergency. The cargo hold held twenty four passengers and the flight attendant – it was cramped, but they would be able to breath even if Jane failed.

In the main area, there were only four people left. Beside the two Shepards there was an old man, who simply chose to strap himself in a seat at the corner, with a paper book in his hands, of all things. He, as far as everyone knew, simply didn't seem as scared as others with the possibility of death. The other one was an angry medium aged man, who demanded that space would be made for him in the cargo hold. Jane had drag him out and forced him to sit down – the man looked white like paper, but Jane did hold a pistol in her hands and he was too afraid to do anything except mumble curses.

John looked at Jane and tapped her on the shoulder. "I'm ready. You?"

In answer, she turned completely towards the exit, and a blue shield shimmered into existence, engulfing John. "Go," She sent him through the transmitter in their helmets. Ironically, it was set to standard N7 encryption – a tribute to their past.

The door slid open, warning sirens flaring throughout the craft, and her shield bent from the force. The asteroid had something of an atmosphere, but it was too thin to really count. Sweat started flowing down her spine, and then, the door was closed. John had disappeared in a blink of her eyes – obviously with the help of the adrenaline surge. The warning signal died out, and the life support system was rebuilding the lost few cubic meters of air.

"Hell yeah!" She shouted both to the two men in the compartment, and into the transmitter.

John winced with the loud sound, but continued on – there were supposed to be crates of explosives nearby, and – he saw movement just over the small hill, the one that was covering their craft from the main facility. "Jane, there's a Grizzly nearby. I'm heading to check it out. No batarians in sight."

"Take your time," buzzed her answer. "It's not like we're late to stop a mad puppet of the Reapers."

He didn't answer that, but once more charged forward, with a drop of determination in each step. The Grizzly was slowly moving up the slope, towards the main facility, and, he was almost certain of it, to its certain doom. He took a few deep breaths once again activating his implants – in combat situations he had come to rely on it so much, that when time flowed normally, everything looked too slow for him.

It took him good three minutes to catch up to the damned vehicle, and even then, the driver noticed him only when he launched a single shot from a pistol into its shields.

Holstering it, to prove his nonviolent intentions, he finally saw it slowing down. And, to make things worse, the man inside chose to hail him with an open radio channel. "Who are you?"

Shepard cursed and crossed his arms in the air above his head; hoping that the man would stop broadcasting their location.

"Atwell, this is Slajs, I've seen someone walking on the surface near the construction site. He doesn't seem to have any communications device but he appears to be armed."

The Grizzly stopped.

"Get the hell out of there!" An unknown voice chimed in. "There's batarian raiders everywhere! Don't -" and there was static.

"Jane," John tried through their channel.

"Are there batarians closing in on you?" was her answer. Their close range channel was still uncompromised – they couldn't have been blocking every frequency, just most of them.

"Not yet." Johns eyes widened as he saw the Grizzly moving backwards, straight towards him. "I'm busy convincing an engineer that I'm human."

When there were moments till impact, he jumped, happy with the weak gravity of the asteroid. He almost overshot, landing on the very front of the vehicle, and barely managing to hold onto it. He straightened himself as the tank stopped again.

John felt really lucky, that civilian issue M29B had no weapons. He quickly straightened himself on the front of the vehicle and banged on it with his fists a few times, knocking loudly. The driver, however, didn't seem to care and started moving forward again. Towards the inevitable contact with batarians. John started looking for an external camera, and found it just when the driver tried to shake him off once again, hitting the breaks. However, Grizzly was a tank and not a racing car, and such maneuver only slightly shook John in place.

He lighted up his recently acquired omni-tool, shoving the image Jane made to display it just before the camera. When that didn't work and the Grizzly started moving again, he leaned forward, showing the transparent part of his helmet, pointing at his eyes with two fingers.

They stopped once again, and Shepard was all but ready to rejoice, when he heard a heavy impact shatter his kinetic barriers. "Batarians," he transmitted to Jane, and rolled to the other side of the vehicle, taking out a sniper rifle from his back – and it was true, there, on the hill, slowly descending from the facility – there was a whole squad of batarian raiders. Probably at least ten of them, with at least one sniper rifle of their own – he was really lucky that the shields managed to stop the shot.

His own answer was to pop out two heads one after another. Then, his rifle overheated, reminding him exactly why everyone started using the heat sinks. He cursed, and dropped it on the ground taking out the assault rifle. This time, firing in short bursts – for everyone else it still looked like nothing else but a continuous firing – he managed to drop down another two, and ducked behind the Grizzly to re- wait for the heat levels to drop.

There was a heavy impact on the other side of the tank, and its kinetic shields shattered, pieces of heavy charge raining fireworks in the air. Another shot like that, and the vehicle would be gone. Where was the cannon when you needed it?

Cursing the old armor he had been wearing now, and knowing that at most half of the shields were back, he hazarded a glance outside of the cover, trying to notice the batarian with the missile launcher before the engineer inside would fry.

This time, he had the sniper rifle in his hands again, his mind wandering to the competition he and Garrus held on the presidium – just it wasn't a bottle he was aiming at, but a batarian's helmet. The shots were impacting the ground and the tank, but only one or two hit him, shields barely holding the impact. How much would he give for his last N7 armor, had it not been a pile of damaged parts.

Then, the batarian raised a rocket launcher from a cover he had found, and John felt the world slow down even more than before. He was moving the scope to his target, and the batarian was almost ready for his shot, too.

A stray shot went through the barriers, and lodged itself in his arm, but the armor held, and, ironically, the impact only helped him to lock the intended target in his sights faster. His shot went through, splattering the ground with batarian brains, and the rocket went completely sideways, hitting the ground and making other batarians duck for cover, splattering them with dirt and stones. John smiled to himself, and hit another target, and then, the batarians were retreating.

He sent a couple more shots their way, hitting another one or two – he was starting to lose count. Soon, they were back to where he couldn't see them anymore. At least, for a time.

"Done," he informed her once again. "They are retreating."

"You did leave some for me? Do you want me to disembark?"

"No, I'm returning in a minute," he knocked a few times on the tank.

This time, the hatch opened, to reveal a human in full armor suit, carrying a pistol. "Hey!" the man announced from his suit's speakers, the voice mostly distorted in the traces of the atmosphere the asteroid had. "I'm supposed I should thank you for saving my life – I'm Thadeas Slajs. Do you need a ride anywhere?"

There was a flicker of blue light and the kinetic barriers of the tank flared back to life.

"Comander Shepard," John used his speakers, too, climbing up on the vehicle, while looking around for batarians. Then, he motioned with his hand towards the explosives cache. "We should head there first; we're going to need explosives to blow a hole or two."

* * *

The updates correlate with me playing ME, or reading other fics set in the universe. Still pretty sporadic, though.


	4. The Batarians

******Disclaimer:** There are other people who own Mass Effect.

* * *

**Hiring the Right Ones**

**Mission IV – The ****Batarians  
**

**John and Jane**

It was a risk they weren't happy to be taking, but approaching the main facility with a tank seemed safer than doing so with the unarmored public transport. However, it was almost guaranteed that when both Shepards left the craft, it would fly off as fast as it could, effectively stranding them on the asteroid. Staying on the asteroid without any kind of defensive weapons, when the supposed N7 operatives went away to take care of the problem was a fool's errand, after all.

However, there was no better choice. Jane, wrapping herself in a double barrier, jumped outside too, the inner compartment losing another two cubic meters of air. With that maneuver, using the barrier trick once more would put a serious strain on the integrity of the craft's atmosphere. And the pilots, obviously, realized it too. The door closed shut behind her; the transport did not lift up at that second, although it probably would soon.

John, together with Slajs, was moving crates into the armored vehicle - the crates were being handled especially carefully, since they carried mining explosives. She grinned inside her helmet - Balak wouldn't know what hit him. Last time, she salvaged some of the material to use as grenades and threw one at his face. Now, she figured, killing him would feel almost as good. She wouldn't waste the chance to destroy the hated batarian once more.

Soon, they were ready. As the Grizzly started speeding towards the main complex, the transport craft suddenly shivered, and raced off the asteroid, probably towards Terra Nova. It was an acceptable loss, yet Jane found herself cursing the stupid pilots. At lest, the worst that could have happened - the craft would be seen on batarian sensors and would serve as a distraction and at best - they would inform the Alliance of what was going on on the X57.

At least Thadeas Slajs had proven to be able to concentrate and help their cause - at first, the man had given in to panic, but after being told, repeatedly, that both Shepards were N7 operatives, the man got a grip on himself.

"Where do you think is the best place to blow through?" John asked the engineer, looking at the rough map Slajs presented them in the inner display of the Grizzly. "We'll need to save some for the frigate, too, just in case we need to blow it up. I was thinking of entering through this wall here - close to the surface to not need much explosive, and out of line of sight from the entrance."

Slajs shook his head. "The emergency anti-decompression systems aren't as good there - you'll end up airing a quarter of the facility - and there still might be people inside without the suits."

"It's a good tactical position," Jane argued. "We would get between Balak and his Frigate."

"It's not worth it." John crossed his hands. "We'll bash through the front entrance to stay on the safer side"

"Fine," she didn't protest. "I'd have used the first entry point. We'll go through the front, but remember, Balak is mine."

**Jane and John**

The turrets, annoying them the last time they were there were silent - Batarians didn't have time to bring them online yet - they were in luck. The codes Slajs had didn't work for the main entrance - it was to be expected, as it would be the first thing the Batarians would change in the takeover of the facility. John helped Slajs to set the charges, and then, the Grizzly turned back a few hundred meters just to be on the safe side.

The blast was loud even for a weak atmosphere. After a few seconds of air leaking outside, the generators in the building started humming, and the gaping hole soon had a shimmering energy shield in place. And, as planned, such a shield wouldn't stop a human or three from crossing inside.

The Grizzly roared its engine, once again closing in on the entrance, both commanders hopping out with weapons ready. Engineer Thadeas was right behind them, with a pistol in his hands, omni-tool prepared. He wasn't a combatant by any stretch of imagination, yet he could use a pistol well enough to be dangerous.

"Just, keep your head down," John remarked, as they finally were inside the complex. "Don't take the helmet off."

Thadeas grunted in agreement.

"And stay out of my way," Jane added, moving to take point.

The inner doors opened, as a couple of batarians were heading to survey the damage and the source of the explosion. They died when a biotic throw slammed them into a wall behind them so hard that their armor cracked from the impact.

The next batarian had his face warped off together with the helmet. A fourth opponent was a flying turret that burned to little bits as Jane's overload fried its circuits.

They moved on, finding another squad - she nailed them with a cryo blast, but this time, someone managed to get a few words out into their communications network before getting shot to pieces.

"Effective," John finished off a stray turret - his first shot since getting inside. "Would have liked to have you on my team."

"Shut up and help me kill some batarians." She laughed. "They know we are comming to kill them."

"On your two," he shouted at her suddenly, "overload!"

"I don't follow your orders," she replied annoyed, but behaved the opposite way - the overload was already frying a squad of flyers, conveniently bundled together. "BALAK!" She screamed through the speakers in her suit. "Come here you four eyed bastard! I'm going to introduce you to pain!"

John took cover behind a huge crate, firing a couple of well aimed shots on the way. Now, Batarians were pouring in a seemingly endless wave from the depths of the facility. They had reached the round chamber, and from every side enemies were coming in squads, firing from different height walkways. How many would have fit in a frigate? A hundred?

Jane was laughing with every dead batarian - a scary sight. A stray shot had found her arm, piercing the shields and armor both, but she didn't stop shooting - her whole body was out in the open, asking for the fire to be directed at her, taking the heat off Thadeas and John.

When enough batarians were looking at her, she wrapped herself in the strongest biotic barrier she could manage, and started advancing their way, shooting shots with incredible precision. The enemy wavered, and then, she got close to the nearest squad.

John could only watch her dancing between the enemies, her omni-blade crackling with orange light. Her barrier flickered and died out at some point, but she didn't seem to care.

John cursed, and started shooting at enemies near her - everyone who tried to shoot at Jade from behind, found themselves dead on the ground. Thadeas was shooting too, at the batarians on the other side of the circular room - the shots were sporadic and he missed them most of the time, but at least it made them stop wishing to peek from whatever cover they had.

Batarians died in heaps, falling before the rage of Jane, or to the calculated shots of John, and then, they started running.

Slajs got one in his back, and John finished it with a single shot to the head. Jane was breathing heavily.

"That was fun." She brushed her visor free of batarian blood as her kinetic barriers recovered yet again. "You shoot like Garrus. Good to know my back is safe."

"You're mad like Grunt," was his reply. "What would have you done if they hadn't run?"

"Killed them." She shrugged. "Let's split here - I'll go and try to give Balak a new pair of eyes, and you can play with Slajs and get whoever is alive to safety."

"You're injured."

"A scratch," she waved her hand. "Soon I'll be as good as new."

"Fine," John gave up. "Thadeas, show the way - where would the hostages be?"

"If they didn't kill anyone..."

"They didn't," John put a hand on his shoulder. "They are fine, we just need to find them."

And they went to check the another rooms.

Meanwhile, Jane rushed forward, taking the stairs up, towards the Frigate.

She jumped over the railing, darted through the doors, slammed her biotics into the nearest batarian - an injured one that didn't make it far, and started playing with her omni-tool.

"This better work," she muttered, playing with her kinetic shields - the technology should have been somewhat compatible, but she didn't have enough time to fully experiment with it yet. Balak would prove a good test subject. "Yes." Her words were followed by a yellowish tint her armor suddenly displayed. It was weak, yet, she knew - even though the barriers were working overtime - they would hold a lot more punishment..

Another door slid to the side, and she emerged into the airlock before the landing pad. Her omni-tool caught a whiff of enemy's communications, and even though she didn't understand the code speech used, she recognized the fear in the batarian troops and the replying voice of their calm commander - Balak was there, after all.

The airlock opened after the air was sucked out and she grinned viciously at the batarian line - they thought that behind the landing pad's cargo containers, and with a rocket launcher, they would be safe.

"You're not a Reaper!" She screamed at them through her speakers, and her biotics flared to life, the missile's impact to the biotic energy sending her back a few feet. Yet, she still stood. Balak was there, watching her with calculating eyes his omni-tool ignited. "Is this all you can do?"

There was a strange beep just behind her, and she rolled forward instinctively It was too late. Another explosion sent her spinning, forward, her barrier shattered, her armor scorched with black stains.

"No." Balak replied standing just before her, his pistol aimed at her head. "Die."

She gritted her teeth and rolled out of Balak's shot, spinning around and slamming her legs into his. Balak grunted from pain, and frustration - his heavy pistol missed her only by hairs breadth. But he didn't fall - he only slammed his foot into her hand, sending her rifle flying.

Luckily for her, other batarians hesitated - they didn't want to injure their leader, so they held some distance, holding the fire.

She jumped on her feet, a shot shattering the place where she had just been. Again. Balak snapped yet another shot, this time hitting her left shoulder, the bullet piercing the armor easily. She roared with the pain and aimed a kick into his torso - however, he sidestepped it, and grabbed her hand, pressuring her down , forcing her to feel the injury even more.

"Commendable speed," he offered. "But not enough."

She was gritting her teeth so much that they fractured from the stress. "Just die, you bastard!"

He laughed, pushing her completely to the ground, placing a pistol on her head. "This time, I won't miss," he offered.

She released the energy pulse. It exploded with volatile energy, even more powerfully than she had expected. It sent shockwaves, fracturing the ground of the landing pad, the crackle of lightning dancing on her amour - the kinetic shields were overloaded so much that it would be a surprise if they ever worked again... Balak, however, bore the brunt of the explosion and had wind knocked out of him.

Pressing on, even though she felt like her legs would fail any second, she grabbed a shotgun from her back, and planted two very satisfying shots directly into Balak's helmet, fracturing his visor into small pieces, letting him catch a deep breath of the almost nonexistent atmosphere. He died in seconds.

Some batarians were shooting at her now, but she was standing firmly between them and their frigate. Slowly getting her injured body into cover - not before shooting another shot at the batarian with the rocket launcher, she prepared to hold the ground.

"John, you can get your ass here anytime now!" she broadcasted into their channel. "Balak is dead, but there's twenty angry batarians pinning me down!"

There was no reply.

"John! Fuck!"

She leaned to fire a couple more shots, the batarians were slowly getting closer, and she was too tired for a simple barrier. Her shoulder was bleeding heavily - all the shooting put even more strain on the injury.

"Fuck," she swore once more. "John, come in!"

A rocket slammed into her cover, sending bits and pieces of the container astray, her armor, luckily, withstanding the impacts of the metal shrapnel. Now, however, she was in the open once more, the only viable choice - crouching behind Balak's body.

"Barrier." She muttered to herself, focusing, clenching her teeth to summon whatever biotic reserves there were. If she failed now, she was gone.

**John and Jane**

Two men carefully moved through the corridors, until they reached fortified position, held by a dozen batarians. John raised his hand for Slajs to stop. He believed he recognized one of them, but he couldn't be sure – it had been quite a while ago.

"Charn!" He shouted loudly, before the shots even started. "I want to talk!"

"Human." One of the batarians stood higher. "You're outgunned and outnumbered. Give up, and we're going to let you both live."

John smiled slightly – the voice was familiar. It must have been Charn after all.

"Charn, listen to reason – Balak is insane, I know that you didn't sign for this! Don't do something you'll regret."

Silence reigned for a few moments.

"We have killed at least thirty of your men before coming here. There are scientists who still hold guns and fight, you don't have control of this facility yet, much less of the whole asteroid; and, the Alliance Command is sending reinforcements as we speak. Think about it, Charn. Do you really want to fight me?"

"Alright." The batarian slammed his fist into the barricade wall. "We can talk. Come out so I can see who I am talking to."

"No," Slajs cautioned, grabbing Shepard's arm as he started moving towards the open passage in front of them. "They're batarians – you can't trust them."

"I know what I'm getting into." John smiled encouragingly at the man. "Don't peek out of cover too much, and don't aim at anyone. Even if they start shooting, wait until I shout for you to fire."

Then, with a courageous wide stride he walked into the open. No one fired yet, and John felt like half the battle had been won.

Charn, too, walked out from his side, and, unexpectedly, removed his helmet. John, without much hesitation, followed his example, standing face to face with the batarian. Their height had been similar, thus putting them on an equal position.

"I am second in command in this mission." Charn grunted, gesturing back to the troops. "But you seem to know that already. You knew who to ask for. How?"

"I have a good source," John grinned, thinking how to spin it to his favor as much as was possible. "I know that _you_ were planning to do a simple slave run. When Balak came and assumed command of _your_ operation, you had no choice but to comply. But he is but one man, and my partner should have killed him already. You don't have to force yourself to step on your beliefs - you're not a mass murdered - you're a simple opportunist. Balak is blind, where you can see reason. Balak is going to die, and you are going to live on. Chose this opportunity I'm giving you."

"Who are you, human?" Charn looked thoughtful. "What is your name?"

"John Shepard." He weighted his options for half a second. "I'm a man who doesn't exist. I'm here to offer you a way out of this mess, for a small price."

"You work for the Shadow Broker." It wasn't a question.

"You're a smart man, Charn." John was glad of the turn of events - it was a good lie to use.

"What is the price?" Charn looked like he had been caught on the hook - John could almost see the line of though in the batarians head. If the shadow broker offered him a deal, that meant that not taking it was out the option - provided John was telling him the truth.

"Shifting your course on the way home – we need you to touch down on the planet you were originally aiming at, before using the relay to leave the Exodus cluster. To land on the Eden Prime."

Charn's eyes narrowed. "I don't suppose you're going to let me take slaves? Or tell me what do you need there?"

"Of course not – you don't need any more attention. As for why - there's a turian who betrayed the shadow broker there - I'm going to kill him."

"Dangerous business." Charn shook his head. "Why should I risk my head for the Broker?"

"Because I'm giving you your life." John stood his ground. "One life for another. Don't think that I don't have other options to get me where I'm needed. You are simply the fastest available one to me."

"I can't do anything until I'm sure that Balak is dead." Charn started slowly. "If you nail him, I'm going to return the favor."

As if on cue there was Jane's voice from receiver in the helmet. The one John held in his hand. "John, you can get your ass here anytime now! Balak is dead, but there's twenty angry batarians pinning me down!"

"See?" He grinned at Charn – the Jane's voice was heard by everyone. "Order your men to stand down. Now." He reached to broadcast to Jane, but saw a movement on the edge of his vision. One of the batarians had grabbed a grenade, and hurled it at both his and Charn's direction.

John became a blur of motion faster than the grenade could land. As Charn was slowly turning around, his four eyes widening as he saw it bounce on the ground, getting too near to them. Without the helmets – it was potentially lethal. John, however, had already let his helmet fall on the ground, and caught the grenade in his hand. Without stopping the fluid motion, he spun around to throw it back; the grenade pivoted wildly in the air and beeped. His other hand, in the meantime, found a pistol on the back, and it was already folding out, ready to be used.

The helmet touched the ground with a loud thump, as the first shots were fired – they dug right into the batarian's shield, sending him recoiling back from the cover. As his shields died out, and as John's pistol overheated – the grenade was right at the batarian's face.

The explosion shook the air, sending a few crates tumbling back, and a smoking body fell on the ground, the batarian's face a grotesque mixture of blood and fractured helmet parts.

Everyone had their weapons ready, aiming directly at John, but Charn raised his hand in the air. "Don't shoot! It's an order!"

John smiled and tugged his pistol back.

"You two," Charn was gesturing angrily. "Get Gotek's body, we're going to find out whose ass he was trying to lick. Everyone else – get ready – we're going home. " He turned back to John. "I'm impressed. You can tell the Shadow Broker that I accept."

"Oh," John had holstered the pistol and was picking up his helmet as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. "I believe he already knows."

"John, come in!" The helmet screamed at him, and there was a sound of a muffled explosion.

"Charn." John grinned viciously letting the batarian could get a good look at his face. "Do you want her to kill your men, or can you tell them to stand down?" He hoped that she would hold the line long enough. "Jane," He added to the comm. "I've got us the transport." Only the sound of her gritting teeth, answered him.

Charn finally started transmitting orders to crease firing at the human in the landing pad. John sighed, relieved, trying not to showcase the momentary weakness.

Slajs chose that moment to reveal himself, running up to John. "What about the hostages? They're not going to take them?"

"They're going to release everyone." John put a hand on Slajs shoulder, as Charn nodded, albeit reluctantly. "You're a brave man – thanks for fighting with us."

"If you ever need any help," Slajs started, slightly afraid of what he was suggesting. "I could even go with you – I don't care who you work for, you saved my life."

"No," John shook his head. "You're no combatant, and our road is going to lead to battle after battle. If you want to help – give Kate and Aaron my regards. When Alliance comes, tell them to be weary of Geth and protect the beacon."

"Geth? Beacon?" The engineer looked confused.

"They should know what that means."

**Jane and John**

She was half-couched behind some sort of smoking debris, her side protected by the corpse of Balak. The field was littered with dead batarians. Easily ten of them. Another ten or so, alive, had been hiding on the edges of the landing pad, as far away from her as they could.

John shook his head, taking another look at Jane – she was bloody, yet still obviously breathing.

"Jane!" he shouted, but trying not to sound too concerned – they didn't need to be seen as weak if they could afford it.

"I'm fine," was her short response. "Just give me five more minutes to catch my breath, Garrus."

"Jane." He was standing right next to her. "Get up, people are watching." Her eyes suddenly snapped to focus - she noticed the batarians standing right next to him, and her hand twitched, coating with biotic energies.

"Hey, why aren't they shooting?" She asked still not launching the warp. "If you gave yourself in, I'm going to kill you before they do."

John laughed, as the batarians present started looking worried. They remembered the destruction she brought on them.

"We came to an agreement."

"Right," she didn't sound much convinced. "Couldn't have told me sooner?"

"Just get up, and stop making us look bad." He hissed, knowing full well that Charn was hanging to every word. "Broker is going to be pissed."

She gathered her strength and stood up, still not dismissing the biotic energies from her hand. Now, batarians were really staring - keeping one's energies up for so long was rather impressive, and with injuries such as she had - impossible.

"Righ." She frowned. "Next time we meet him, you're going to let me do the talking."

"Fine," he agreed, seeing the thoughtful look on Charn's face. "Now, please stop scaring our contractors."

"Oh, no, you won't," she dismissed her biotics and strolled right up to him, staring into his face. "I said you that I would kill them and you'd tell them they didn't agree with the terms."

"Jane," he cautioned. "Charn said yes."

"Fine." She raised her hand and pointed her finger at Charn as if it was a barrel of a gun. "You get to live," she announced, and lowered her hand.

With that, the tension was broken.

"Quick, take only what we really need," Charn started giving commands to a few staring batarians. "Move, men, move - Alliance reinforcements are on their way!"

As they climbed onto the batarian frigate, Jane was groaning and complaining along their way through the cargo bay. "If this thing backfires, I'm killing them all. I don't trust Batarians."

"Give Charn a chance."

"Lovely. Flying with batarians in a batarian frigate. You managed to find the worst way it could have ended." She kicked at the nearest wall leaving a tiny dent. "It's not even a good ship - bad metal, wobbly design and an old ship and," she spoke pointing at a fat bundle of wires running on the ground. "It's not even finished. We're so going to crash."

"It's the best we could have hoped for." He argued. "They didn't have time to take over any of the fusion torches. We averted a lot of deaths."

"Mhm." She yawned. "Thank you for leaving Balak to me." Then, she suddenly punched him in the shoulder with as much strength she could muster. It was a weak punch – she had been exhausted. "And that's for not letting me kill the others. Damned batarians." She leaned on him, finally showing some degree of weakness. "You got us on the ship, now find us some food. I'm starving."

* * *

As I said, sporadic.

By the way, there's yet another fic I'm involved in, that's written together with Morta's Priest, a Batman and Death Note crossover. You can hop to check it out sometime. "Destroyer of Worlds" - story ID - 8665231, or simply via the link in my profile.


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